Ice making method, ice maker and refrigerator

Abstract

The invention provides an ice making method, an ice maker and a refrigerator, and the ice making method comprises the following steps: obtaining a preset supercooling degree, and supplying air to an ice making chamber according to the preset supercooling degree; after it is detected that the water temperature in an ice making box in the ice making chamber is smaller than 0 DEG C, if the water temperature in the ice making box reaches the preset supercooling degree, whether the temperature of water in the ice making box rises or not is judged; if yes, the air supply temperature of the ice making chamber is greatly reduced, and water in the ice making box is made to exit the supercooled state; and if not, controlling the ice-making chamber to reduce the air supply temperature, and returning to the step of judging whether the temperature of the water in the ice-making box is increased or not. According to the invention, the temperature of the ice making chamber can be accurately adjusted according to actual conditions. In the ice making process, the system can adjust the air supply temperature according to the change of the water temperature in the ice making box, so that high-quality icing of ice blocks is achieved. When the water temperature is detected to reach the preset supercooling temperature, the system controls the air supply temperature, so that the problems that bubbles in water are closed and ice blocks are irregular in shape are effectively solved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the technical field of refrigerator ice making, in particular to an ice making method, an ice making machine and a refrigerator. Background Art

[0002] As people's living standards improve, the demand for household refrigerators is also increasing, and ice-making functions have become standard features in more and more families. Household refrigerator ice makers not only bring convenience to daily life, but also improve the quality of life in many occasions. For example, they meet the diverse needs of families in making drinks, chilling food, and cooling down with ice packs in hot weather. Ice makers also play a key role in entertainment and social occasions. In social activities such as family gatherings and friends' dinners, ice makers can quickly make a large amount of ice cubes to meet various needs.

[0003] However, most refrigerator ice makers on the market are still traditional ice-making systems. During the automatic ice-making process, the ice box is placed in a low-temperature chamber to form ice naturally. The ice-making process is determined based on time and temperature. There are many problems with this ice-making technology, such as: irregular ice shapes; slow freezing of ice cubes, which causes the air dissolved in the water to be trapped in the ice to form small bubbles, and the color is not beautiful under light refraction; an overly low temperature chamber results in high energy consumption, a large temperature difference in ice making, and a slow ice-making speed. The above problems affect the user experience. Summary of the invention

[0004] In order to solve the technical problem of poor ice-making effect in the prior art, the present invention provides an ice-making method, an ice-making machine and a refrigerator.

[0005] The technical solution adopted by the present invention is:

[0006] The present invention provides an ice making method, comprising the steps of:

[0007] Obtaining a preset subcooling degree, and supplying air to the ice-making room according to the preset subcooling degree;

[0008] After detecting that the water temperature in the ice box in the ice making room is less than 0°C, if the water temperature in the ice box reaches a preset supercooling degree, determining whether the water in the ice box is heated up;

[0009] If yes, lower the air supply temperature of the ice-making compartment to a second preset temperature, so that the water in the ice-making box exits the supercooled state;

[0010] If not, the air supply temperature of the ice making chamber is lowered by a first preset temperature, and the first preset temperature is lower than the second preset temperature, and then the process returns to the step of determining whether the water in the ice making box is heated up.

[0011] Furthermore, after the air supply temperature of the ice making chamber is lowered by a second preset temperature, the air supply temperature when the water in the ice making box is heated during this ice making is fed back, and the air supply temperature is increased by the first preset temperature to replace the preset supercooling degree or as an optional preset supercooling degree.

[0012] Furthermore, after the air supply temperature of the ice-making compartment is lowered by the second preset temperature, the air supply temperature of the ice-making compartment is the air supply temperature of the freezer compartment of the refrigerator or is -18°C.

[0013] The present invention further provides an ice-making machine, comprising an ice-making chamber and an ice-making box arranged in the ice-making chamber, and using the above-mentioned ice-making method to make ice.

[0014] Furthermore, the ice maker further comprises: an ice storage compartment located below the ice making compartment, and a sandwich door which is controllably openable and has a heat insulating effect and is arranged between the ice making compartment and the ice storage compartment.

[0015] Furthermore, a rotating motor is arranged on the inner wall of the ice storage compartment, one side of the ice box is connected to the rotating shaft of the rotating motor, and the rotating motor can drive the ice box to rotate so that the ice cubes in the ice box are poured into the ice storage compartment.

[0016] Furthermore, the ice storage compartment is provided with an ice storage box for storing ice and a probe rod for detecting the ice storage height of the ice storage box.

[0017] Specifically, the sandwich door includes: a first door body rotatably connected to the inner wall of one side of the ice maker and a second door body rotatably connected to the inner wall of the other side, and a door control motor that drives the first door body and the second door body to rotate and open and close the ice storage compartment and the ice making compartment.

[0018] The present invention also provides a refrigerator, comprising the above-mentioned ice maker.

[0019] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following advantages:

[0020] During the ice making process, the air supply temperature is adjusted according to the change of water temperature in the ice box to achieve high-quality ice. When the water temperature reaches the preset supercooling temperature, the air supply temperature is controlled to effectively avoid the closure of bubbles in the water and the irregular shape of ice. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the description of the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying creative labor.

[0022] Figure 1 is a flow chart of an embodiment of the present invention;

[0023] Figure 2 is a flow chart of a specific embodiment of the present invention;

[0024] Figure 3 is a flow chart of the control of the sandwich door in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0025] Figure 4 It is a structural diagram of an ice making machine in a specific implementation of the present invention;

[0026] 1. Ice box;

[0027] 2. Rotating motor;

[0028] 31. First door body; 32. Second door body;

[0029] 4. Door control motor;

[0030] 5. Probe rod;

[0031] 7. Ice storage box. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] In order to make the technical problems, technical solutions and beneficial effects to be solved by the present invention more clearly understood, the present invention is further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain the present invention and are not intended to limit the present invention.

[0033] The principle and structure of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

[0034] In the prior art, most traditional ice makers use a natural freezing method in a low-temperature chamber to make ice, relying on time and temperature to determine whether ice making is complete. This method has many disadvantages. For example, since ice cubes freeze slowly during the ice making process, air is trapped in the ice cubes, resulting in small bubbles in the ice cubes, which affects the transparency and appearance of the ice cubes. Secondly, the shape of ice cubes is often irregular, which affects their visual effect and convenience of use.

[0035] In this regard, Figure 1 , 2 As shown, the present invention proposes an ice making method, comprising the steps of:

[0036] Obtaining a preset supercooling degree, and supplying air to the ice-making room according to the preset temperature, that is, by controlling the supply air temperature to the preset supercooling degree (specifically, the supply air temperature can be controlled by adding a heater in the air duct to change the supply air temperature, etc.), so that the temperature in the ice-making room gradually drops to the preset supercooling temperature;

[0037] Detect the water temperature in the ice box in the ice making room to confirm whether the water temperature is lower than 0°C; when the water temperature drops below 0°C, further detect whether the water temperature has reached a preset supercooling temperature, and the corresponding supercooling state means that the water temperature is lower than its freezing point but has not yet frozen; if it is detected that the water temperature has reached the preset supercooling degree, determine whether the water in the ice box has heated up;

[0038] If the water temperature rises, that is, when the cold water encounters a condensation nucleus or is slightly disturbed, it will quickly crystallize and freeze. In this process, the supercooled water releases a large amount of latent heat, which will increase the temperature of the surrounding water. At this time, by significantly reducing the air supply temperature in the ice making room, that is, reducing the air supply temperature in the ice making room by a second preset temperature, the freezing process of the water can be avoided from being disturbed, thereby controlling the formation of ice cubes.

[0039] If the water temperature does not rise, the control continues, the air supply temperature of the ice making chamber is reduced by a first preset temperature, and the first preset temperature is less than the second preset temperature, so as to achieve a stable supercooling state; and then the process returns to the step of determining whether the water temperature rises, until the freezing condition is reached.

[0040] By controlling the temperature in the ice-making room and the supercooling state of the water, the optimal preset supercooling degree can be automatically adjusted according to the water quality in the user's area, so that the ice quality is better and a more efficient and stable ice-making process is achieved. This avoids the problems of uneven freezing and excessive energy consumption caused by temperature fluctuations in traditional ice-making methods, and improves the quality of ice cubes and ice-making efficiency.

[0041] In a specific embodiment, the supply air temperature is reduced by a first preset temperature, that is, the supply air temperature should be reduced by a preset value, specifically by 0.5°C. For example, if the current supply air temperature is -5°C, a reduction of 0.5°C means that the supply air temperature is reduced to -5.5°C.

[0042] That is, by gradually lowering the air supply temperature, the most suitable conditions can be created for the subsequent freezing process, ensuring the stability of the freezing process and preventing ice from freezing too early or unevenly.

[0043] In a specific embodiment, after the air supply temperature of the ice-making chamber is lowered to the second preset temperature, the system will feedback the air supply temperature when the water in the ice box is heated up during the current ice-making process; specifically, when the water temperature in the ice box begins to rise, the air supply temperature at this time is recorded, and the system will increase the air supply temperature by the first preset temperature. If it is the first time to make ice after the refrigerator is initialized, it will be directly replaced with a new preset supercooling degree for temperature adjustment during the next round of ice-making. If it is the nth time for the refrigerator to make ice, n>1, it will be used as an optional preset supercooling degree for the user to choose to replace before making ice. For example, if the air supply temperature that is heated up is -5°C, increasing the first preset temperature is to increase by 0.5°C, that is, -4.5°C;

[0044] This adjustment mechanism can automatically adjust the optimal supercooling degree according to the water quality in the user's area, making the ice quality better and ensuring that the water is in a supercooled state and does not freeze prematurely.

[0045] In a specific embodiment, the aforementioned lowering of the air supply temperature of the ice-making compartment by the second preset temperature also means lowering the air supply temperature by a certain value, and after the lowering, the air supply temperature of the ice-making compartment is the air supply temperature of the freezer compartment of the refrigerator, or -18°C. At this time, the temperature of the ice-making compartment is quickly lowered to a temperature level close to that of the freezer compartment, thereby helping the water body to quickly exit the supercooling state and preventing the temperature from fluctuating upward during the freezing process, so that the water in the ice-making box generates crystal nuclei, and the water in the ice-making box freezes quickly. By setting the temperature of the ice-making compartment to the temperature of the freezer compartment, or standardizing it to -18°C, the system can ensure that the water temperature is quickly lowered to the ideal supercooling range and maintain this state until the ice-making process is completed.

[0046] This temperature switching method ensures a fast temperature response during the ice making process, making the ice freezing process more accurate and efficient. By synchronizing the temperature of the ice making room with the temperature of the freezer, the impact of inconsistent temperatures can be reduced and the ice making efficiency can be improved. In addition, you can also choose -18°C, which further optimizes the ice making speed and avoids the problem of uneven freezing of supercooled water or delayed freezing process.

[0047] like Figure 4 As shown, the present invention further provides an ice-making machine, comprising an ice-making chamber and an ice-making box 1 arranged in the ice-making chamber, and using the above-mentioned ice-making method to make ice.

[0048] The structure of the ice maker optimizes the quality and speed of ice cubes by controlling the temperature changes during the ice making process. In the ice maker, the ice making chamber is responsible for maintaining and adjusting the temperature throughout the ice making process by opening and closing its air door, and the ice box is used to store water and support the freezing process. By real-time detection and adjustment of the air supply temperature of the ice making chamber, the system can ensure that the water freezes in a suitable supercooled state, thereby avoiding the temperature instability problem in traditional ice making technology.

[0049] The ice machine can accurately adjust the temperature of the ice making chamber according to the actual situation. During the ice making process, the system will dynamically adjust the air supply temperature according to the change of water temperature in the ice box to achieve high-quality ice freezing. When the water temperature is detected to be too cold, the system controls the air supply temperature to effectively avoid the problem of air bubbles in the water and irregular ice shapes.

[0050] In a specific embodiment, the ice maker further comprises: an ice storage compartment located below the ice making compartment, and a sandwich door which is controllably opened and closed and is arranged between the ice making compartment and the ice storage compartment.

[0051] The function of the interlayer door is to control the temperature and airflow isolation between the ice making room and the ice storage room according to the needs of the ice making process. When the ice cubes have been formed and are ready to be stored, the interlayer door opens to allow the ice cubes to enter the ice storage room, ensuring that the ice cubes can be stored in a proper environment and maintain their good shape and quality. During the freezing process of the ice cubes, the interlayer door is closed to ensure that the temperature of the ice making room is stable and focused on the ice making process; and when the ice making is completed, the interlayer door will open to allow the ice cubes to smoothly enter the ice storage room for storage, avoiding excessive exposure to low temperature environments, resulting in excessive freezing or affecting use.

[0052] Through the control of the interlayer door, the temperature and airflow between the ice making room and the ice storage room can be isolated, ensuring the efficiency of the ice making process and the suitability of the ice storage environment. This mechanism not only improves the efficiency of ice making and reduces unnecessary energy consumption, but also ensures that the ice cubes remain in good condition during storage, improving the user experience.

[0053] Specifically, a rotating motor 2 is provided on the inner wall of the ice making chamber, one side of the ice making box 1 is connected to the rotating shaft of the rotating motor 2, and the other side is also connected to the inner wall of the other side of the ice storage chamber through the rotating shaft, and the rotating motor 2 can drive the ice making box to rotate. When the ice cubes in the ice making box are completely frozen, the rotating motor starts, and drives the ice making box to rotate 180 degrees through its rotating shaft, so that the ice cubes are smoothly released from the ice making box and poured into the ice storage chamber.

[0054] The automated rotation mechanism reduces manual intervention and improves the automation level of the ice maker. The rotating motor drive ensures that the ice cubes can be released from the ice box intact and intact, avoiding the trouble and inconvenience that may be caused by manual ice removal or other ice removal methods in traditional ice makers. By controlling the rotation angle and speed, the efficiency and quality of the ice pouring process can be further improved, enhancing the user experience.

[0055] In a specific embodiment, the ice storage compartment is provided with an ice storage box 7 for storing ice and a probe rod for detecting the ice storage height of the ice storage box 7. The upper end of the probe rod 5 is connected to the rotating shaft, and after rotating downward, it is placed in the ice storage box 7. The height of the ice cubes in the ice storage box 7 can be known by the rotation angle of the probe rod 5. The probe rod 5 has a certain curvature as a whole, and the lower end can swing up and down with the rotation of the rotating shaft, so as to contact the ice cubes in the ice storage box. When the ice cubes in the ice storage box 7 accumulate to a certain height, the probe rod will touch the surface of the ice cubes and rotate with the change of the height of the ice cubes. By detecting the rotation angle of the probe rod, the system can accurately determine the storage amount of ice cubes in the ice storage box and feedback the ice storage status in real time. When the rotation angle of the probe rod reaches a preset standard value, the control system can trigger a corresponding action, such as stopping the pouring of ice cubes or starting a new ice making process. Avoid too much or too little accumulation of ice cubes in the ice storage box, and ensure the efficiency of ice storage and the working stability of the refrigerator.

[0056] The probe can effectively monitor the ice storage status of the ice storage box to avoid operational problems caused by too much or too little ice storage. The ice-making process can be automatically adjusted according to the height of the ice in the ice storage box to ensure the accuracy and efficiency of ice storage. It can not only reduce the need for manual operation, but also improve the convenience of ice management and enhance the overall user experience.

[0057] like Figure 3 , 4 As shown, the sandwich door includes: a first door body 31, a second door body 32 and a door control motor 4. The first door body 31 is rotatably connected to the door machine shaft on the inner wall of one side of the ice maker, and the second door body 32 is rotatably connected to the door machine shaft on the inner wall of the other side of the ice maker. The door control motor 4 is located on the back side of the ice maker chamber and is connected to the two door machine shafts at the same time. Specifically, it can be rotatably connected to the two door machine shafts by gear transmission. Through the rotation of these two parts of the door body, for example, rotating to a horizontal state, the ice storage compartment is isolated from the ice making compartment. The door control motor is responsible for driving the rotation of the first door body and the second door body, thereby realizing the opening and closing operation of the door body, controlling the temperature isolation between the ice making compartment and the ice storage compartment and the falling channel of the ice cubes.

[0058] It should be noted that the door body of the sandwich door is a hollow structure, which has the effect of isolating the cold exchange, thereby effectively isolating the temperature and airflow of the ice storage compartment and the ice making compartment.

[0059] During the ice making process, when the ice cubes in the ice making room have been frozen and are ready to be stored, the control system of the ice maker (specifically, the controller or control module) will control the door control motor to drive the interlayer door to open, so that the ice cubes can enter the ice storage room smoothly. After the ice cubes in the ice storage room are stored, the interlayer door can be closed to prevent temperature exchange or moisture from entering the ice making room, and maintain the best temperature conditions during the ice making process.

[0060] The double-door structure and the control of the door motor can realize the management of ice making and ice storage process. This design not only improves the automation of the ice maker, but also effectively isolates the temperature and airflow of the ice storage room and the ice making room, avoiding energy waste caused by temperature difference or affecting the quality of ice cubes. In addition, the intelligent opening and closing control can ensure the smooth operation of the door, improve the user experience and the overall operation efficiency of the equipment.

[0061] In other embodiments, a liquid level sensor is further provided in the ice box, and the control system of the ice maker can determine the liquid level of the ice box according to the arrival signal sent by the liquid level sensor. The ice making chamber and the ice storage chamber are cooled separately to avoid mutual influence. When ice making is not needed, the air door of the ice making chamber is in a closed state, that is, the ice making chamber stops supplying air.

[0062] The present invention further provides a refrigerator, comprising the ice maker, that is, the ice maker is installed in the refrigerator.

[0063] The refrigerator design integrates the above-mentioned ice maker into the refrigerator to provide a convenient ice-making function. By installing the ice maker directly in the refrigerator, users can conveniently obtain ice supply while using the refrigerator to store food. The combination of the ice maker and the refrigerator not only saves space, but also makes the production and storage of ice more efficient.

[0064] The functions of the ice maker remain independent, but it utilizes the temperature control system and part of the storage space of the refrigerator. For example, the ice storage compartment in the ice maker can be located directly in an area of ​​the refrigerator's freezer compartment.

[0065] It should be noted that the terms used above are only for describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit exemplary embodiments according to the present invention. As used herein, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the singular form is also intended to include the plural form. In addition, it should be understood that when the terms "comprise" and / or "include" are used in this specification, it indicates the presence of features, steps, operations, devices, components and / or combinations thereof.

[0066] Unless otherwise specifically stated, the relative arrangement of the parts and steps described in these embodiments, numerical expressions and numerical values ​​do not limit the scope of the present invention. At the same time, it should be understood that, for ease of description, the sizes of the various parts shown in the accompanying drawings are not drawn according to the actual proportional relationship. The technology, method and equipment known to ordinary technicians in the relevant field may not be discussed in detail, but in appropriate cases, the technology, method and equipment should be regarded as a part of the authorization specification. In all examples shown and discussed here, any specific value should be interpreted as being merely exemplary, rather than as a limitation. Therefore, other examples of exemplary embodiments may have different values. It should be noted that similar reference numerals and letters represent similar items in the following drawings, so once a certain item is defined in an accompanying drawing, it does not need to be further discussed in subsequent drawings.

[0067] In the description of the present invention, it is necessary to understand that the directions or positional relationships indicated by directional words such as "front, back, up, down, left, right", "lateral, vertical, perpendicular, horizontal" and "top, bottom" are usually based on the directions or positional relationships shown in the drawings. They are only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description. Unless otherwise specified, these directional words do not indicate or imply that the devices or elements referred to must have a specific direction or be constructed and operated in a specific direction. Therefore, they cannot be understood as limiting the scope of protection of the present invention. The directional words "inside and outside" refer to the inside and outside relative to the contours of each component itself.

[0068] For ease of description, spatially relative terms such as "above", "above", "on the upper surface of", "above", etc. may be used here to describe the spatial positional relationship between a device or feature and other devices or features as shown in the figure. It should be understood that spatially relative terms are intended to include different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation described in the figure. For example, if the device in the accompanying drawings is inverted, the device described as "above other devices or structures" or "above other devices or structures" will be positioned as "below other devices or structures" or "below other devices or structures". Thus, the exemplary term "above" can include both "above" and "below". The device can also be positioned in other different ways (rotated 90 degrees or in other orientations), and the spatially relative descriptions used here are interpreted accordingly.

[0069] In addition, it should be noted that the use of terms such as "first" and "second" to limit components is only for the convenience of distinguishing the corresponding components. If not otherwise stated, the above terms have no special meaning and therefore cannot be understood as limiting the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0070] The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention. For those skilled in the art, the present invention may have various modifications and variations. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the present invention shall be included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. An ice making method, characterized in that: Includes steps: Obtaining a preset subcooling degree, and supplying air to the ice-making room according to the preset subcooling degree; After detecting that the water temperature in the ice box in the ice making room is less than 0°C, if the water temperature in the ice box reaches a preset supercooling degree, determining whether the water in the ice box is heated up; If yes, lower the air supply temperature of the ice-making compartment to a second preset temperature, so that the water in the ice-making box exits the supercooled state; If not, the air supply temperature of the ice making chamber is lowered by a first preset temperature, and the first preset temperature is lower than the second preset temperature, and then the process returns to the step of determining whether the water in the ice making box is heated up.

2. The ice making method according to claim 1, characterized in that: After lowering the supply air temperature of the ice making compartment by the second preset temperature, the supply air temperature when the water in the ice making box is heated during this ice making is fed back, and the supply air temperature is increased by the first preset temperature to replace the preset supercooling degree or as an optional preset supercooling degree.

3. The ice making method according to claim 1, wherein: After the air supply temperature of the ice-making compartment is lowered by the second preset temperature, the air supply temperature of the ice-making compartment is the air supply temperature of the freezer compartment of the refrigerator or is -18°C.

4. An ice-making machine, comprising an ice-making chamber and an ice-making box arranged in the ice-making chamber, characterized in that: Ice is made using the ice making method according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

5. The ice making machine according to claim 4, characterized in that The ice maker further comprises: an ice storage compartment located below the ice making compartment, and a sandwich door which is controllably openable and has a heat insulation effect and is arranged between the ice making compartment and the ice storage compartment.

6. The ice making machine according to claim 5, characterized in that A rotating motor is arranged on the inner wall of the ice storage compartment, one side of the ice box is connected to the rotating shaft of the rotating motor, and the rotating motor can drive the ice box to rotate so that the ice cubes in the ice box are poured into the ice storage compartment.

7. The ice making machine according to claim 5, characterized in that The ice storage compartment is provided with an ice storage box for storing ice and a probe rod for detecting the ice storage height of the ice storage box.

8. The ice making machine according to claim 5, characterized in that The sandwich door comprises: a first door body rotatably connected to the inner wall of one side of the ice maker and a second door body rotatably connected to the inner wall of the other side, and a door control motor driving the first door body and the second door body to rotate and open and close the ice storage compartment and the ice making compartment.

9. A refrigerator, characterized in that: The invention comprises an ice making machine as claimed in any one of claims 4 to 8.

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